ASCO Abstracts Released - NTRA and BNTX Highlights

Earnings season for biotech and health sciences is well underway. A couple of highlights:

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting is the world's largest oncology conference, running May 29 – June 2. Abstracts were released last night (May 21, 2026, ~5pm ET) but Plenary / Late-Breaking Abstracts (LBAs) remain embargoed until the live presentation, so for the highest-impact readouts you have titles but not yet full datasets. Some notable abstracts include BNTX Pumitamig, the PD-L1 x VEGF-A bispecific partnered with BMY, sharing Ph. 2 1L lung cancer data and MRK/MRNA intismeran autogene, the individualized cancer vaccine, sharing 5-year durability data. On the diagnostics side, NTRA is presenting 35 abstracts across multiple tumor types and payer dynamics, expanding their evidence base for the use of MRD in solid tumors.

Personalis (PSNL) reimbursement decisions: Personalis secured two additional MolDX Medicare coverage decisions for NeXT Personal in Q2 including coverage for immunotherapy monitoring across late-stage solid tumors (May 13) and expanding breast cancer coverage to pre-surgical/neoadjuvant treatment monitoring (May 20). Reimbursement is the gating factor on the NeXT Personal revenue ramp and management flagged that unreimbursed test costs diluted Q1 margins by more than 2,000 bps, so each incremental coverage decision converts existing test volume into paid revenue.

Avalo Therapeutics (AVTX) AVTX-009 data: On May 5, Avalo reported positive topline results from the Phase 2 LOTUS trial of abdakibart (AVTX-009), an anti–IL-1β mAb, in moderate-to-severe hidradenitis suppurativa. This was the key value-inflection catalyst for the name, de-risking the lead asset and validating the IL-1β mechanism in a large, underserved derm indication.

Axsome Therapeutics (AXSM) AXS-05 approval: On April 30, the FDA approved Auvelity (AXS-05) for agitation associated with Alzheimer's disease dementia, becoming a first-in-class NMDA/sigma-1 therapy in the indication. This is a major label expansion that broadens AXS-05 well beyond depression into a multi-million-patient high-unmet-need population, materially expanding the franchise's peak-sales opportunity and de-risking Axsome's CNS pipeline narrative.